Chryste Dionne Gaines (born September 14, 1970, in

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Ce ...

) is an American Olympic athlete who competed mainly in the sprints.

Education

Gaines is a 1988 graduate of

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

."My High School: South Oak Cliff,"
''The Dallas Morning News'' sports section online. During her senior year, Gaines was named the Gatorade National High School Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Gaines received a bachelor's degree from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1992 and an MBA from Coles College of Business,

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fou ...

in 2007.

Track and Field

While at Stanford, Gaines was the 1992 NCAA indoor champion in the 55 meter sprint and the 1992 NCAA outdoor champion at 100 meters. She was the first person to win the conference 100 meter championship three times. Gaines competed for the United States in Atlanta's

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. In the 4 x 100 metres, she won the gold medal with teammates

Gail Devers Yolanda Gail Devers ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 metres, 60 m hurdles, 100 m and 100 m hurdles. One of the greatest and most decorated female sprinters of all time, she was t ...

Inger Miller Inger Miller (born June 12, 1972) is a retired American track and field sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 m. She is the daughter of Lennox Miller, an Olympic champion runner from Jamaica. She attended John Muir High School in Pa ...

and

Gwen Torrence Gwendolyn Lenna Torrence (born June 12, 1965) is a retired American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist. She was born in Decatur, Georgia. She attended Columbia High School and the University of Georgia. She was offered a scholarship because of ...

. She returned to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

as the sole survivor of the 4 x 100 meters team. Teamed with

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track and field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 200 ...

Torri Edwards Torri Edwards (born January 31, 1977) is an American sprinter. She competes in 100 and 200 meters, winning an Olympic medal in 4×100-meter relay in Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000. In 2003, she won six medals in major international ...

and

Nanceen Perry Nanceen Lavern Perry (born April 19, 1977 in Fairfield, Texas) is a former Sprint (running), sprinter from the United States. She competed in the Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 4x100 meters relay in 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney 2000, but ...

, the Americans earned a bronze medal. Gaines's best time in the 100 meters was 10.86 seconds (run in 2003). Gaines successfully competed until 2008.

Doping allegations

In 2003, Gaines was issued a Public Warning and had her results disqualified for the detection of

Modafinil Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant medication used to treat sleepiness due to narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea. While it has seen off-label ...

. The same year she was investigated as part of the

BALCO scandal The BALCO scandal was a scandal involving the use of banned, performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes. The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) was a San Francisco Bay Area business which supplied anabolic steroids to profes ...

and in 2004 she received a two-year doping ban. Because of a teammate's steroid use, the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

tried to force the 4x100 relay team to return their bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics. Gaines and her five teammates would successfully appeal.

Honors and awards

Gaines was the 1987-88 Gatorade National Track & Field Athlete of the Year, an award that goes to one high school girl each year from around the country. In 2009, she was named one of 10 “Women Out Front,” a leadership award given by

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, where she was an academic advisor. In 2018, she was named to the 10-person inaugural class of the Dallas Independent School District's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Coaching

Gaines has coached at the high school and college level. As of 2018, Gaines was the track and field and cross country coach at Heritage High School in Frisco, Texas.

References

;Notes ;Sources *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaines, Chryste 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Lawton, Oklahoma Track and field athletes from California American female sprinters African-American female track and field athletes Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists American sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Track and field athletes from Oklahoma Goodwill Games medalists in athletics FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1993 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people